An Assault in the Shadow of the Rain
by Falcongod
Summary: "Raven!" Came the call from perhaps half-a-dozen yards out. Still, there was no visibility in this emerald rain. I gathered myself and retreated my smile. A scuffled swan perched beside me and then it was Beastboy with me. "I do not see anyone in the shadow of this rain." I reported. "Even the most vigilant of eyes couldn't pierce this veil."


_A fierce rain covered the forest. Reports had come in of some 'monster' lurking about in it, so naturally the Teen Titans came to investigate.  
They had split up into three teams to cover the entire area. Robin and Starfire searched the swampy portions of it toward the north, Raven and Beastboy investigated the denser woodlands of the south. Cyborg hacked into the nearby street cameras and maintained a perimeter around the outside._

 _So determined were they to flush out the beast, they did not consider it might be drawing out its own honeyed choice of prey.  
Raven was doomed from the start._

* * *

The sweeping breath of a thousand larks paraded before me. I reached before me and clawed at their honeyed tailwinds, but acquired no pleasure from this. The west side of my face skyrocketed into imagining a sprinkling of cloud dust. I careened forward to better feel the rain upon my skin. Hallowed images of Beastboy tip-toed through my ears as the water caressed my cheeks. I groaned at its familiarity.

"Raven!" Came the call from perhaps half-a-dozen yards out. Still, there was no visibility in this emerald rain. I gathered myself and retreated my smile. A scuffled swan perched beside me and then it was Beastboy with me.

"I do not see anyone in the shadow of this rain." I reported. "Even the most vigilant of eyes couldn't pierce this veil."

"They have to be here somewhere; we can't give up." Beastboy said matter-of-factly. I nodded in agreement.

"We'll have to traverse the area by foot if we want to see anything. Stay within a shouting's distance of me and bit by bit we'll flush him out. Be careful of landslides." I ran ahead.

Through the onslaught of water, only flashes of objects could be seen. Trees were not trees, but stern walls with burly oak coats. Glaring at me as if bemoaning my interference to their affairs. The wiry undergrowth manifested itself only in intruding hands pulling back and holding fast to my cloak. And then sharp tinges of pain upon my naked legs after I stripped myself of the movement impeding cloth. The act of seeing became one of interpreting patterns of reflected light through the kaleidoscope of rain. The very air seemed composed of haunting depictions of faces continually distorting themselves into monstrosities anew.

"Beastboy!" I called. My lungs straining to scream over the downpour.

"Noth-th-thing yet!" He shouted back. I could not tell if his voice had wavered or if the unevenness of the rain had simply bullied it into weakness.

I wondered what Beastboy was thinking. I thought to ask him, then I thought to assault his mind and uncover it for myself. In the end I did nothing. Much as I wanted to delve into his cornucopia, the fruits of his psyche would hold no flavor if I picked them prematurely. Nor did I think it wise to vault myself over the garden fence when I knew the groundskeeper by name. I shot my attention toward him to see his face, but he made no acknowledgement of my gesture and continued on his search.

Something slithered through the tangled hair of the forest floor. I could not hear it over the pounding rain, nor could I see it through the ensnaring plant life, but I felt its presence all the same. It was an intruding presence, its very existence stood as a violation of nature. I shuddered at the thought of sharing roots with something as evil as this creature. Or was it the rain that caused me to shiver?

I suddenly became aware of the frigidity of my exposed, drenched skin. My leotard was soaked through and though its fabric did make valiant efforts to retain as little water as possible, it provided little insulation for my body heat. The hair a-crown my head clung despairingly to my face and redistributed the pouring water directly to the small of my neck in its chilling journey.

"Beastboy! Get over here!" I nearly screamed the words, but I couldn't even hear their effects myself. The rain screeched in my ears. The sensation of a liquid pooling in my ears stole my concentration before I could conjure a way out for myself. The strong oak trees clawed at me. Their branches howling mad furies in the storm. I felt them tearing away at my sleeves, my back. What little warmth the tightness of my dress had afforded me began to burst out. There was only numbing coldness now. My rapidly palpitating heart hounded me. I could no longer control the shivering. I collapsed into the sea of plant life crawling and shifting around me. I drew my knees close and rubbed my legs rapidly trying to impart some memory of warmth into them. They felt like raw logs of ice in my hands, sensation had left them entirely.

"I'm freezing. I'm going to freeze!" Nothing.

The try to release the new forge. I want to grasp the torridity. Blanket me under mercurial magma. ...

My mind gargled incoherencies. My tongue lulled out. Paralyzed; but my muscles seized and berated me without end. The thorny undergrowth buffeted my hapless body as they flew by me. Somehow, though I could feel no connection to my body. The discomfort still reached me. As if a multitude of unwelcome bodies squeezing past me in an impossible crowd, it was. Their weight intruding upon me with force unbearable. I felt blood seeping out of me. My mouth gagged on the putrid taste of something. Like a vile metal concoction the blood was.

Two eyes burned their way into my field of vision. Then two became four, and four mocked me as they became eight. I recognized their source as a single entity, and I cursed my foolishness to have fallen so easily into its trap.

Soon there was nothing but the eyes. Staring at me. Not a single one blinked. They pummeled me with their crass gaze. I could feel the bruises forming and breaking over me. My soul emptied out. Surely mere watching eyes couldn't cause me hurt, couldn't punish me here. And the larks, as innumerable as the falling kaleidoscopes of rain depleted the last of my consciousness as they continued to pass judgment on me with their unblinking eyes.

One last moan escaped my lips before I gratefully descended into the final deprivation. The great nothingness.

"..beast...boy."

But I could not reach him, it seems.


End file.
